The Lifestyle Changes You Can Make After Lockdown

When it comes to our lifestyle there is no denying that lockdown may have had us question some of our processes and the habits we have. As teachers, we are taking on new roles in the classroom, and approaching our jobs in ways that many of us never have before. However, we may also want to re-evaluate and approach some things differently in our personal life, or in our work-life balance.

With time to think things through, did you decide to make some changes? The truth is, we may have come out of lockdown wanting to make some positive changes, but where to start? Here are some of the lifestyle changes that you could make apart from eating well and exercising. 

Image source - pixabay - cco license 

Take better care of yourself

One of the first things that you could do would be to take better care of yourself. This means booking those dental appointments, regular check-ups at doctors for blood pressure and tests, and even the eye appointment you have likely been putting off. If you need glasses there are some great frames online and they can help you in different ways of your life such as reading or long distance. Taking good care of yourself means that you will be at optimum health in all areas of your life. Leaving you time to focus on the other changes you want to make.  This is not the time to skip these things. If anything we should realize that our health is top priority!

Get more sleep

There is no hiding from the fact that so many of us would like a little more sleep in our lives. Of course, you can do the obvious thing that would mean going to bed a little earlier, but is it really going to be the right thing for you? Instead, why not focus on getting a better quality of sleep. That means developing a bedtime routine just for you. Shutting off the technology at least an hour before bed. Relaxing in a warm bath and drinking a warm drink instead of something alcoholic or caffeinated. Getting better sleep can drastically change your mood and energy levels, which ultimately could have a positive effect on other aspects of your life. 

Say yes more

Could you say yes more? Are you one of those people who are afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone or taking that leap of faith? If this sounds like you then maybe a good approach to the year would be to say yes more. Yes to that night out. Yes to that night in. Yes to a holiday, or yes to more responsibility at work. Yes, yes, yes. Of course, Don’t do things that feel forced. But if it is a situation that you think you may regret it if you don’t say yes have the courage to just do it. 

Know when to say no

Finally, on the opposite end of the scale, you have people who just can’t say no. They say yes if it means inconveniencing them and they don’t want to do it. They say yes when they don’t want to do something. So a good lifestyle change for you would be to decide whether you should in some cases be saying no. Think about yourself and your family instead of others. It could really change the way you approach life. 

Let’s hope that some of these options have you considering other ways to take on the year ahead. 

What changes are you thinking of making, particularly as we head back into the school year?

5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Commute Time

How Can You Best Use Your Commute Time?

I don't know how long your commute is but one of the things that I really like to use my commute time for is to listen to podcast or audio books. What podcast do I recommend? It depends upon how you want to use your time. There are several great options!

Escape Reality

Sometimes I enjoy podcasts that are audiobooks or story and give you an escape. They are just fun and make you energized and uplifted. That's completely fine! Some of my favorites in this category are:

• Serial
• NPR StoryCorps
• Six Minutes (appropriate if you have middle-grade kids with you)

Professional Development

There are also educational podcasts if you want to get some professional development time while you are driving. Some of my favorite educational podcast are:

• Google Teacher Tribe
• Chalk Full of Life (actually recently ended, but there are still many old episodes to listen to)
• Cult of Pedagogy
• Truth for Teachers

Personal Growth

If you're looking for podcasts that are not just teaching related, but still allow some room for growth and learning, of course, it will depend on your interests. There are podcasts on almost every topic under the sun! However, two in particular that I think might appeal to a lot of people are:

• 3 in 30 Takeaways for Moms
• Brooke Castillo Life Coach School
• Ted Talks Daily

Audiobooks

Besides podcasts, other great ways to use your commute time include audiobooks (available for free through your library on the OverDrive App, Hoopla, or sometimes other options depending upon your library). You can always listen to music that will get you energized during the day or put you in a good mood.

Connection

If you have Bluetooth in your car, or a good hands-free setup, this is also a great time to catch up with family or friends and make a quick phone call for connection.

Bonus - Quiet Solitude and Recharge! 

Additionally, depending upon your personality, if you feel like you've been talking to people all day and you need a break, then absolutely use this as a time for peace and quiet! It's perfectly fine to turn the radio off. Just enjoy the time to yourself in the car so that you come home calm and ready to face your family and the rest of your day

Some of you may need some peace and quiet some of you need a chance to interact or tune in to something else. You know yourself best, but don’t waste that time! Use it to your advantage! It can help you in one way or the other throughout the day.

How and Where to Connect with Science in the City

I love to connect with fellow teachers. We all learn from each other, and become stronger by communicating and sharing.

Some people prefer to connect in different ways. I am in a lot of places around the internet, and I’d love to connect wherever you are.

• Email: Feel free to shoot me an email. I am usually pretty quick to response to email, and I love getting responses or questions from you. This is probably the most individualized way to communicate.
• Mailing list: I send out free resources, updates, sale announcements, and subscriber only exclusives.
• Blog articles approximately every 2 weeks on various science and teaching topics (as well as the occasional guest post or giveaway exclusive for readers).
• Facebook Page: My Facebook page is not super active, but you will see upcoming news, newsletters, occasionally new resources, some humor.
• Facebook Group: The best place to connect with me as well as other science teachers from around the world. There are 2500 members, science teachers from around the world. We share resources, and ask and answer questions.
• Pinterest: I have many active boards of my own, and well as collaborative boards with other science teachers that cover many commonly taught science topics, as well as technology, differentiation, literacy, and more.
• Instagram: I am not super active on IG, but I do occasionally participate in giveaways, and post pics of things going on in class, or new blog posts.
• Twitter: Again, I’m not super active on Twitter, but if you prefer twitter new articles are posted there, and sometimes other updates.

Hope to talk to you soon!! 

Unparallelled Self-Care On Your Spring Break

As spring break approaches, what are your goals?





Are you planning to go on vacation?
Spend it on the couch?
Catch up on work around the house?
Catch up on schoolwork?

I would argue that spring break should be a time to focus on your goals, and on taking care of you. By self-care I don’t massages and pedicures, I mean work on some ways to take better care of yourself, and make yourself feel better! You can do it, but it takes work! Use your time to do the work, and come out of spring break feeling much better!

Self-Care is Not an Indulgence, it's a Discipline
Self-Care for Teachers
Teacher Self-Care

What I do mean is take care of yourself. Do things that will make you healthier, stronger, calmer and feel better!

• How to do that??
• Move your body - walk? Dance? Exercise? Try to establish a pattern that you can keep up, even if it's only ten minutes a day of yoga. Look on YouTube for some short simple videos to follow if that would help. Go for a walk! Even if it’s cold, bundle up! If you are looking for accountability or encouragement, join some fitness groups on Facebook. There are many! Ask me for suggestions if you are stuck. I’m in a couple. 
• Eat good food - healthy is even better! Try a new vegetable and find a different way to cook it! 
• Do things that bring you joy - read a good book? Do an art or craft project? Go for a hike? What lights you up? Find time for that. 
• Do something that makes you laugh. We all need more laughter in our days! 

Come up with plans to continue this trend once school begins.

This comes with a change in mindset. It means prioritizing yourself and taking control of your day. If that’s where you are struggling, let me share a few of my favorites:






Chalk Full of Life Podcast

And many more.  If none of those fit for you, let me know and I can recommend others.

Easy Fitness Tips for Extremely Busy Teachers

Why is fitness so important for teachers?

Fitness is important for everyone, but especially for teachers because we have a very high stress job. Fitness can be a big stress-buster, anti-depressant, enables you to have more energy during the day when working with your kids

On top of stress and depression benefits, we also know that fitness has benefits for our overall health (cholesterol, heart health, blood pressure and more).

Many people know that fitness is important, or want to lose weight but struggle to fit it into their own lives.

My own journey

I have developed some health issues, chronically over the last number of years. I have been diagnosed with what is called myofascial pain, or overly tight muscles, with trigger points and a lot of pain sensitivity. I have had particular trouble in two different areas of my body. Within the last year or two I have really made a commitment to work on them. Exercise and fitness has been a big part of this. I have been through physical therapy, trigger points injections, MRI, acupuncture, and several types of medication. I am not cured, but doing much better.

The end result is that these issues are all muscular, and are places in the body where people are likely to carry stress and tension.

I have had to build in careful types of exercise, both for my muscles directly, and also as part of a plan to better manage stress.

I have tried ‘programs’ and liked them, but they didn’t work well for me. I have had to build off of what I can do, without causing further injury and go slowly.   Then I felt frustrated when I couldn't complete the program.

However, I think it is beneficial because it caused me to really reflect on my goals (less pain), and my own progress (exercising 4-5 days per week, rather than 1-2 is progress, even if not exactly following the program).

As part of my ‘journey’ I have also gotten familiar with biomechanics, and the work of Katy Bowman. She studies how our modern lives (time spent at a computer, or other mostly sedentary lifestyles has affected our bodies, our health, and what we can do about it). One of the main distinctions that she makes is the difference between movement and exercise. I think this distinction is so important for teachers (and others) to keep in mind.

Both are important, and after reading much of her work, I think we need both. However, we have a tendency to discredit the idea of ‘movement’ that is not exercise, and this is a mistake.

Movement v. exercise

Katy Bowman proposes that 30 minutes a day of exercise is not enough to counteract a mostly sedentary day. In her book “Move Your DNA” (affiliate link) she puts out the idea that we do not, necessarily have to do 30-60 minutes of sweaty, strenuous exercise, but that we have to build in more movement throughout our day. This can be large and small. Walking instead of driving, squatting, changing our position, doing more work with our hands rather than machines, etc. Our muscles need constant changing inputs to function at their best. We tend to be in the same positions and same types of movements throughout the day.

Here are a few links that discuss this distinction

What’s the Difference Between Movement and Exercise?

Exercise v. Movement: What’s the Difference?

What are some ways to get more movement into your day

• Walk more - this might be as simple as parking further away
• Change how you sit - sit on the floor with your kids. Squat. Sit cross-legged. Sit on a stool. 
• Carry things in your arms. Instead of using only a backpack, or a rolling crate, try to carry things different ways. 
• While you are on the phone, walk! 
• While dinner is cooking, or while brushing your teeth, do some stretches. 
• Don’t use your food processor, or buy pre-cut veggies, but do the work yourself.
• When you take your kids to the playground, run and play with them.
• Build it little movements - arm circles, twists, reaching up, etc. 
• I’m sure you can come up with many more!! I’d love to hear them!! 

What are some ways to get more exercise into your day?

For me, I am trying to build in more movement, but it didn’t seem like I could get enough within the demands of my job/life. I don’t live in an area where I can walk to a lot of different places, and that is a big difference. So I compromise. I do try to build in more movement, but I also build in exercise. However, I don’t try to overdo it. I don’t stress if every day is not the most strenuous workout. If may not be a program. I try to do one of the following and ‘count it’ as exercise for the day (in no particular order):

• 30 minutes walk outside, or on the treadmill
• A 30 minutes exercise video (either Beachbody on Demand, Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube, FemFusion Fitness on YouTube, or FitnessBlender on YouTube)
• Going outside or to the YMCA to play with my kids, and actively participating

I can often do one of these either in the morning when my kids are getting ready, while dinner is cooking and they are doing their video game time, etc. They are short enough that they are manageable.

As I watch different YouTube channels, and read different books, one of the themes that keeps coming through to me is the idea that movement will make me feel better. Our bodies are designed to have much more movement than we are currently doing. Those movements don’t need to be extreme, but they do need to be occurring on a regular basis. Here is a very current article from the NY Times “Those 2-Minute Walk Breaks? They Add Up”

I hope some of these things helped you reframe the way that you think about exercise, and how you may be able to improve on your exercise and health situation.

Even if you take small steps, they will add up. Find what works for you. But mostly keep moving! Or get moving!

A Financial Secret to Benefit You, Teachers

A Financial Secret to Benefit You, Teachers

As we are just finishing up taxes and tax time, I wanted to share a tax saving or financial tip for teachers that you may not be aware of. I have only become aware in the last few months of a certain type of investment or saving account that is open to teachers and some other public employees. This type of account is called a 457 investment account.

I am not going to claim to be an expert, but I will give you a quick synopsis, and a few more sources of information.

 

I learned about a 457 first on the Choose FI podcast episode entitled The Unfair (FI) Advantage Of Teachers | 457b. Another good source of information is the Millionaire Educator blog, specifically the post “7 Reasons to Love your 457 Plan.”

Definition and Advantages of a 457

A few bullet points about what a 457 is, and what the advantages are:

• A 457 is pre-tax savings or investment, similar to a 401k (usually in business) or a 403b (often teachers have this as well). That means your money is going in before it's taxed so you are able to put more in and you're able to reduce your taxable income (lower your tax bracket)
• The rules or a 457 state that you can withdraw when you leave your teaching position, or at age 59.5. This means, if you leave your teaching position, you can withdraw from your 457. 

However, you may need to do some research and work with your HR department. My district did not really seem to publicize the 457 well. I had to do some digging to find out about it. I have heard the same from others as well. However it may be worth the work as it may be a good alternative for you to improve your tax situation and your savings for later.

More information

Here are a few 457 links with some more information

• CNN Money: What’s a 457 Plan?
• Smart Asset: What’s a 457 Plan?

Definitely do your research, they won’t be for everyone, but this has potential to be important enough that I wanted to pass it along. I have been teaching for 12 years, and thought I was relatively on top of my finances, but I had never heard of a 457, and didn’t know it was available. As such, I’m assuming I’m not the only one. This could be a huge advantage if you are teaching but plan to leave your job and stay home with young kids for a while, go back to school, or simply leave the teaching field and pursue a different line of work, but maybe you need some money to tide you over after you leave the position. There is no early withdrawal penalty. You still pay taxes on the money that you withdraw but you don't pay a penalty like you would from any other retirement accounts.

I'd love to hear your comments below. 

What Are You Wondering? Ask Science in the City

I wanted to share a bit about myself, and give you as my readers, a chance to ask me questions if you have questions. They could be academic, educational, parenting-related, or whatever.

So here are a few bullet points about me:

• I graduated from college with an undergrad degree in environmental science. 
• Worked in environmental consulting for about 3 years. Then pursued my masters. I ended up quitting my job, and picking up quite a bit of tutoring while finishing my masters in Geology. Also took a job as an adjunct, teaching a non-majors “Geology and You” class at a local college
• I loved it! I didn’t find a local job using my masters in Geology, and as I started to think about having children, I didn’t want that much travel. I decided to get my teacher certification.
• Long term sub at a private school with students with learning disabilities
• Worked as an aide, both as a sub, and then got a permanent job during this time in a classroom for students who are mostly classified ED, OHI.
• Completed my teacher certification in Earth Science, LE, and Students with Disabilities. 
• Worked in an urban Title I school for 11 years. Have taught Earth Science, Biology, 7th grade, 8th grade, AP Environmental, and am now working in Virtual Academy, under IT department
• A few years ago started a program to add ESL certification, for content area teachers. Ended up not finishing it, because I would lose seniority and change tenure areas, but took a few classes. 
• My real passions in teaching is seeing student succeed at something that they didn’t think they could do. In some cases this is a student earning college credit, during high school, in an advanced placement class. We are in a district where this doesn’t happen very often. It is a dream for a lot of students! In most cases, this is students who have struggled, whether they are ELL, SPED, or just students with a history of past failure, poor attendance, etc, to have some measure of success! 
• Personally, I am married with two boys, ages 8 and 11 (started middle school!).  My older son has quite a few food allergies, so that has really improved my cooking skills, and my advocacy skills! 
• Outside of teaching I love to be outside, hiking, and cooking. My older son has several food allergies so this has increased my cooking skill! I like to exercise…. I used to do a lot of other crafty hobbies, such as scrapbooking, crochet, and photography. I like to read and listen to podcasts. 

This is your chance to ask me….

What do you want to know? Questions about any of my experiences? A particular situation where you are struggling?

Feel free to ask me in the comments, or come to our Facebook group and join in the conversation and ask me direction! 

What Quick and Easy Lunch Can I Bring?

Quick and Easy Lunch Tips for Teachers

What can you do to bring healthy lunches when you're rushing in the morning.  Maybe you're trying to get kids out the door as well and making lunch is the furthest thing from your mind, but you want to eat healthy.



I very much believe in eating healthy and wanted to share a few tips and strategies to bring healthy lunches to school on a regular basis.  Skipping meals or not eating lunch is just not an option to me, so I have had to work out ways to get a decent lunch while having kids in my room, making copies, and trying to do all the other things teachers do in our 30 minute lunch (go to the bathroom??!)

What are some easy teacher lunches

Some of my favorites are the following

• Salads in a jar
• Left overs
• Little things that I can snack on during the day, for example: crackers and cheese, yogurt, granola bars, pieces of fruit, veggies and dip, hard-boiled egg. 
• Sandwiches is always a standby, or a wrap
• Pre-packaged salads are okay but reading ingredients carefully
• Soup (homemade or prepared)
• Baked potato (I can microwave it at school if I get desperate, and bring some toppings). 

What are some tips to make this more successful?

These are not new but hopefully they will help:

• Plan out your menu for the week. For me its it's often too hard or too confining to plan out each day.  I just try to make a list of at least 4 or 5 lunches (4 can be enough since sometimes there are leftovers, or something unexpected). 
• Prep on the weekend!  Sometimes if I'm feeling ambitious I'll make a few mason jar salads or make a few of something else that I can take for lunch a couple days.   I have also made pasta salad and taken it for several days. 
• Pack up leftovers after dinner right in lunch containers so I can just grab it in the morning maybe a piece of fruit 
• Intentionally cook enough leftovers at dinner to be lunch the next day (doesn't always work because my kids have been eating as much lately, but worth a try!)
• Cook ahead and freeze. This doesn't have to be a giant monthly cooking event, but make a pot of soup and freeze in lunch size portions. It helps SO much! 

For more information here some of my favorite resources for quick and easy lunches

• 100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous: The Easy and Delicious Way to Cut Out Processed Food (affiliate link)
• Pinterest - I have a board for lunches, although I don't use it extensively, but I do at least like to get my brain going.  Let's be honest, at 6am I'm not cutting my sandwich into little shapes :).  But sometimes I do get some good ideas.  
• Rubbermaid LunchBlox are my go to lunch container. Its a good size, and I have a couple so they can be washed, put in the fridge, etc. 

How to Balance Exercise with your busy teacher life

I wanted to talk to you today about how to fit in exercise when you're a busy teacher.  I don't know about you but for me it's difficult. However I've been doing a lot of goal-setting and working on balance and priorities in my own life this year.  As a result, I really am trying to put my health as a priority, and I think that you should do the same.

It's really important that we all fit in some type of exercise.  It's important that that exercise be whatever you enjoy. If it's Zumba, aerobics, yoga, walking, running, biking, whatever -- just get moving!  How do you do that when you're balancing a full-time job? When you bringing work home? Maybe you have kids, or maybe you're a first year teacher and you're very overwhelmed.  I've been there! And recently I've been working hard on that and I wanted to share some of my suggestions with you.

First of all walking is a great way to fit it in.  I would recommend that as a place to start.  A lot of people have Fitbits.  If you don't want to spend the money or don't have a Fitbit there are free apps on your phone (such as Google Fit) that can track your steps.  I also have an older version of the Xiaomi Mi Band 2, Bluetooth 4.0 Xiaomi Mi Band 2 Wristband Bracelet With OLED Display Water-resistant Smart Heart Rate Fitness Tracker (much cheaper than the Fitbit  affiliate link - more in my price range).  By really shooting for that goal of around 10,000 steps a day can make a big difference in how you feel and how your day goes.  Maybe you get to work 15 minutes early and walk on the track.  Or you could go out during a free period and walk on the track or walk around the block.  All those types of things really do add up and make a difference in you hitting that goal number of steps.

What I've been doing is a combination of a few things.  My kids go to childcare in the morning to get on the bus so sometimes I'll take them just a little bit earlier, especially on the days when I don't teach first period.  I'll go work out and then go to school.  My husband's been going after school but by the time I get to the end of the day I don't want to go!!  So that doesn't work for me!

Another option is workout videos at home there are paid options like Beachbody on demand Les Mills or many others.  There are also free options.  If you are looking for a free place to start, here are a few great YouTube channels that are free:  Fitnessblender, BeFit, PopSugar Fitness, Yoga with Tara Stiles, Yoga with Adrienne, and Doyogawithme.

There are lots of ways that you can workout even in less than 30 minutes.  I play these videos on my tablet in a spot in the basement, but you can do whatever works for you.  You don't need a lot of equipment.  You can do a yoga with a mat and maybe blocks, so we are talking under $20. Some of the other videos you could get a small set of weights or a mat but again under $20.  You can get started now!  Don't put it off. Focus on small steps and you will see a big difference.  This is my workout space. I know its ugly! But its cool when I'm working out, quiet, and was very easy and cheap to put together. The important part is that I make it a habit to keep showing up!


I was having trouble at first because my kids were constantly in my hair and wanting to be underfoot and asking me questions while I was trying to work out so I ended up setting up an area in the basement. We have an unfinished basement but I got some floor mat tiles at Aldi's like this affliliate link (around $25.00).  I had a yoga mat already, and we have an extra chair that we were getting rid of.  I just bring the tablet down there (or you can even use your phone).  The kids can not come down to the basement for those 30 minutes and bother me.  If I really commit and take that 30 minutes a day it makes a huge difference in how I feel, how my day goes, and how much energy I have.  For me, sometimes its easier to workout at home than to go somewhere. While the kids are watching a show, or while dinner is cooking I can get in a quick workout.

There's a lot of research showing that exercise is one of the most effective treatments for people with chronic pain and/or depression.  Take advantage of it! It's free and has no side effects but huge benefits, so do your best to fit it in. Start from where you are try to increase a bit.  If you're not exercising at all and you aim for two or three times a week or if you are exercising and you want to bump it up a little bit more (intensity, frequency, etc).  Make your health a priority! It has made a big difference in my life this year.

Had Enough Take Out? Easy Ways to Eat Real Food

I don't know about you, but as a teacher, one of the last things that I want to do at the end of the day is make a complicated meal.  This is especially true when I have papers to grade and my own children are getting older and having after school sports and after school activities.

Despite how I feel at the end of the day, or during my 15 minutes that I have to sit down and eat, I really do believe in eating healthy, and eating real food.  It doesn't have to be complicated food, but real food.  As I may have mentioned before, my son has several food allergies.  That makes ordering pizza or take out not a good option. We have to get dinner on the table.  And because of him, I read the label of every food food that I eat.  The more that I read food labels, the more important I think it is to eat real food.  Reading ingredients leads to some kind of scary discoveries!! 

I have been a follower of the 100 Days of Real Food blog and Facebook page for a long time, and I am very excited to share my early PRE-RELEASE copy of the book with you!  

This cookbook seems like it was made for people like me (and you if you want easy, kid-friendly, real food ideas!  Busy teachers who still want to get a relatively, healthy, real food meal on the table quickly!  Busy teachers who have to eat meals on the run and pack lunches, but are looking for some new ideas!

This book features a bunch of quick and easy recipes, most of which are not shown anywhere else (such as on her website).  There ideas for dinners, snacks, breakfasts, and lunches.  Its written by a mom, who knows what it is like to try to make lunches, get kids out of the house, and still eat well.  On top of that, many of the recipes are allergy friendly, and are marked as such.  

We are enjoying some of her recipes for dinner today.  It's a fall Sunday.  I am doing laundry and grading papers, but we will be enjoying a great fall dinner. We are having White Chicken Chili, with a loaf of bread (easily purchased), and these Cinnamon Glazed Bananas for desert.  My kids are excited because they are getting desert. I'm excited because it is sweet, but not as bad as a lot of deserts.  And I'm hoping there is extra chili for my lunch tomorrow.  

Click on photo for the sample recipe

Click on photo for the sample recipe

In her book, Lisa Leake gives lots of suggestions for packing lunches as well :). 

For more information on her book, or to pre-order for the guaranteed lowest price (it comes out October 25th), you can check out Amazon or check out her website or here for more inside info. And if you pre-order, and leave your information at the first link above, you will get bonus ebook.

If you are like me, you are always looking for ways to be a little healthier, and eat a little cleaner, but only if its easy.  This is a great resource to make that goal attainable!  

  

Teacher Life Hack - Easily Maintain your Sanity

I don’t know about you, but I am constantly seeking a better work-life balance.  Teaching is one of the jobs that can easily take over your life, if you allow it to do so.  There are a lot of things that I do to maintain a work-life balance.  Many of them revolve around food prep.  I previously wrote a blog post here that touches on that.  

During the school year, no matter how much prep I do, it is hard to maintain a balance during the year.  One thing I do to try to maintain some kind of balance is take my work email off of my phone!  I especially do this on the long weekends, or over a school break.

If you aren’t ready for that step, then at least turn of the ‘push’ and the notifications, so you can check it on your schedule!

Another option would be to put it under a separate email app so that you have to choose to check it, on your schedule.

When work email is on your phone, it is too easy to feel an obligation to answer emails at all or hours, or to read an email that makes you frustrated or upset when you should be getting ready for bed, or enjoying family time.

Outstanding tailwind feature you may not know

I have just recently started using tailwind and am still learning my way around, but I am impressed. Here are he increase in stats that I have seen since I started about two weeks ago. I wanted to share with you an easy way to find and save pinterest content.

However, as I have talked to more people, I wanted to share what my workflow, or my plan looks like, at least at this early stage, because it seems I am using a feature that not a lot of people are talking about yet.

Throughout the week, maybe when I'm sitting waiting somewhere, I look on pinterest on my phone. When I find new content that I want to pin I use the method below to save a draft.

If you are logged into tailwind, and go to settings and then mobile scheduling. Tailwind will give you a strange looking email address. You can send that pin as a message, from within pinterest, to that email address. You only need to type it in or set it up once and then it will be there when you hit send pin.


Then, when you log in to tailwind, all those pins are sitting here as drafts. I can change he descriptions, check them, select which boards I want them to go to. At that time I also add any product or blog post pins, select intervals, and schedule. I can schedule a lot of more successful pins in a short time.

I will keep this post brief, and in the future I hope to stick to more education oriented pins, but I I am really loving that effortless way to build up drafts and haven't seen much mention of it so I wanted to share.

Please leave you favorite pinterest or tailwind tips in the comments.

A Teacher's Unique and Unexpected Power

I would like to simply share a brief story that has caused me a lot of reflection lately.  My son is in kindergarten.  In gym class, his gym teacher told him he was a champ, or called him champ recently.  

He has literally talked for weeks about how his gym teacher thinks he's a champ.  He has taken this to mean that he is great at gym, and he thinks he has to work extra hard to not let the gym teacher down, since the gym teacher thinks he's a champ!

As a teacher we often are reminded about the power of our words, and the fact that we are working with impressionable young kids.  I think it is easy to lose track of this fact, in the day to day shuffle.   This has been a big reminder to me of the power of our words.

Remind your students that they are champs!  Don't be afraid to compliment them!  And be thoughtful about what you say, because you don't know the impression it will leave.  

Social Action and Surprising Current Issues in the Classroom

I have spent a lot of time this summer reading and educating myself on food, and nutrition. I have been interested for several years, as my son has several food allergies, so I am forced to read labels, and, for the most part, cook from scratch. A few years ago I read The Unhealthy Truth, by Robyn O'Brien, but mostly with my kids in mind. In the meantime I have gotten busy, have two kids now to make school lunches for, and have gotten lazy (not about the allergies, which are life-threatening, but about health choices that are not immediately life threatening).

 I have also been very tired, and just low energy, getting sick (just with colds) more frequently. Bloodwork last year didn't turn up anything, and the doctor had a conversation with me about stress management, and eating healthy. That rung true, but not quite. I didn't feel like I was under anymore stress than I have been, maybe less as my kids are both old enough to sleep well, I'm a more experienced teacher, was at a better school last year than the two previous years.

 Near the end of school a colleague was excited about the "Whole30" and the energy boost, health benefits, etc. I read up on that, experimented a bit (decided it was WAY too restrictive for without a strict reason or problem to solve). But that experiment and reading led me to more reading on gluten, and on other health myths/topics. Then a friend's doctor recommended the book "Eat to Live." I was intrigued and also read some of that. I found this more well supported, and backed by research, as well it made more sense to me logically, but is basically a vegan diet, focusing on salad, maybe 2 meals a day. I don't see that as feasible for me right now. But I did try to make some changes. In all this reading and thinking (which I only have time for in the summer), I came across two things that really got my attention as far as the classroom.

 1) The blog 100daysofrealfood.com (and the associated recipes, facebook page, etc. This is also about healthier eating, but from a little different perspective. What really stuck out to me, however, is that unlike a lot of the other things I had been reading, the author here emphasizes taking small steps (mini-challenges), and that any improvement is better, and that this does not have to be a 100% change. I think that is also an important lesson for our students -- take small steps to make changes. Any improvement is better in the big picture.

 2) I also stumbled across this book: The Omnivore's Dilemma for Kids.  This is supposed to be written for teens.  A lot of it is about science -evaluating different studies, analyzing nutrients in our bodies and how our bodies break down and utilize various chemicals.  Now I really want to use this book with my students.  I'm trying to determine where in the curriculum it fits, and how best to do this.  Where I teach, I'm sure this is not a topic of why my students are very much aware, at all.  When I taught AP Environmental, several years ago, I did a similar unit and my students were completely blank slates before.  Such a far removed topic from their daily lives.  I would like to bring some awareness to ninth grade biology students, maybe through the use of this book.


I think I will start with writing a donorschoose.org grant for the book, but in the meantime I need to determine where in the curriculum it would go, and how I could use it.

Any ideas, send them my way :)

Looking For Free Clip Art? Here's An Outstanding Free Clip Art Site

Hi all!

If you are like me you are always looking for new clip art to add to either class activities, or products for teacherspayteachers.

In many cases there are great artists on teachers pay teachers, but there are also some cases where I don't want to spend the money, or just want something small.

My favorite new soure for clipart is www.openclipart.org  (Note: As of March 2019 Open Clip Art has been down and it is unclear if it's coming back).  This site has been working to replace it, and it is also a great resource ClipSafari

There are tons of designs, and some are pretty technical (appropriate for science for example).

Here are the terms of use, and some examples, and they are pretty permissive!   

https://www.clipsafari.com/terms 

What happens when you are on vacation?

What do you to to be able to rest and relax over vacation?  I have often times used vacation, and school breaks, as a time to catch up/clean up/get ahead/get organized.

I also have a bad habit of procrastinating.  Not usually, but over vacations.  When I know I have a long time to get work done, I still find myself finishing up grades on Sunday night.

This vacation I did something different, and it may be the best decision that I've made in a long time.  I did my school work at the beginning of break, and pushed hard to get ahead on some before school ended.  I am not doing anything except what I need to do (grading, lesson plans for when we go back).  I'm not using the break to work on any projects. I literally put my schoolwork back in the car so I wouldn't see it in the house during vacation.

I'm making a conscious choice to use the break to relax.  I have read 3 novels so far (granted 2 were while I was sick on the couch one day).  I have played several board games with my kids.  I got together with a friend I haven't seen in a while.  My plans for the rest of vacation look similar.  I've been to the gym several times.  I hope to go a couple more.

I think it will make the transition back to school a little tough, but I also think I will be healthier, more relaxed, and more prepared, mentally and emotionally for the rest of the year.

Despite what everyone says, teaching is a draining job.  It requires long days, on your feet, being "on" and being emotionally involved with a lot of needy kids, and a lot of political pressure.

I know I don't always do the best job during school of maintaining balance and making sure that my stress doesn't flow over onto my family.  I'm trying to make up some of it now.

How do you use your vacation time?  Do you get ahead?  Or do you focus on other things?  What do you do to keep some balance for yourself and your family?

My New Year's Resolutions

I was invited to participate in a linky part on New Year's Resolutions.  Here are mine:

And here is the original linky, maybe some resonate with you?  What are your goals for the upcoming year?  Feel free to comment.

Getting Ready for Back to School: Behind the Scenes

I took a class over the summer, towards TESOL certification.  Some of you already know this.  I enjoyed it, but it ended Monday, and, honestly, I was ready for it to end.  I decided that this week of summer would be finishing up things around the house.  Starting next week, I need to get serious about school. I am moving to a new school, and sharing a classroom.  I have had push-in teachers before for certain periods, and I have had people come into my room to teach a period, but this will be different.  I am sharing a room, and then sharing office space.  I am supposed to meet with the teacher I'm sharing a room with next week.  I think I have an idea what I'm teaching, but I really don't know for sure.  I'm taking that as a sign that I should start serious work next week.

So this week is things to help 'get ready' for school, but indirectly.  Here are some of my projects:

• Clean the windows and blinds.  By the way, I HATE cleaning windows.  And how do you clean Roman shades?? 
• Cook food ahead to freeze for the first few weeks of school.  There are freezer recipies all over pinterest, and books available.  For the first time, I am trying one of the menus from Once a Month Mom.  I have done some of their "mini menus" before, but never done a full menu.  Today we did all the chopping and prep for the diet menu.  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.  Even when I haven't done that, but just frozen some dinners, extra spaghetti sauce, etc. ahead it makes a HUGE difference.  Both in terms of time saved, ease when I get home, and especially decision making or choice.  I can just take something out and be ready to go.

Here it is in visual format.  We will see if mine look anything like it!

• Finish up some of those projects around the house that I've been meaning to do, but haven't finished.  We moved here 7 years ago.  Moved when I was 8 months pregnant with my older son.  In between I had a second child, changed schools and grade levels, and didn't do much to the house.  When we moved in one of the things that we liked was that it was in good shape, and we didn't HAVE to do much.  But there were things we wanted to do.  Now we are doing some of them.  The rest will probably wait until next summer.  But, we paid to get wood floor in the living room, changed a light fixture in the dining room, did a little decorating in the bathrooms, and cleaned and shined up the cupboards, as well as installed new hardware.  They look so different!  Feels good to update a little.

• School shopping - new shoes all around, kids' school supplies, a few things for my classroom (even though I haven't seen it yet).  
• Go through some of my boxes of papers from school and try to toss things and organize (and move LESS back to school)
• Decide what 'fun' things I still want to do this summer, and find a time to do them. Squeeze as much fun as I can into these last couple weeks!

What do you do to 'get ready' before the summer really ends?  What do you do that helps you ease into the school transition?